There’s now more data collected about our every interaction in the digital world than ever before. According to a Washington Post story, “brokers use ‘billions’ of data points to profile Americans”. Marketers with access and an understanding of how to use that data can create a distinct, competitive advantage in their ability to provide relevant offers to the right buyers at the right time.

Dealing with data beyond spreadsheets and reporting to actionable insight about customers that enables everything from predictive analytics to truly automated marketing automation are some of the promises of what’s next in content marketing for B2B companies. What used to seem like science fiction is now becoming a reality (as shown by the Future of B2B Marketing eBook we created for MarketingProfs).

Real-time social engagement is a great way for brands to stay top of mind, build their social audience and even influence the buying decisions of consumers. On-the-fly upsets to content plans and rapid response content creation are counterintuitive for most brands, though.

At TopRank, we coach brands on careful planning, implementation, measurement and ongoing improvement based on insights. But how can brands maintain quality and ensure thoughtful content if they’re expected to produce and launch it in minutes?

Perhaps the best known example of this strategy recently was Oreo’s infamous Superbowl tweet. They showed just how effective social listening is, when their “You can still dunk in the dark” branded image was retweeted over 16,000 times.

The Retailer’s Guide to Big Data

The explosion of mobile and social media has changed the ways that retailers view customer data. This recent infographic from Monetate takes a dive into big data and presents challenges, goals, and tips for developing a big data game plan.

Google To Hire More Help, Users Enticed To Search While Signed In
Google is determined to see G+, local search, and personalized search succeed. To that end, they’re hiring a new product marketing manager for search. This person would be responsible for developing plans, creatives, campaigns, and programs to increase the number of users that are signed in. Via everythingpr.

Big data is definitely a buzz word within the industry right now, but as I headed to Bryan Eisenberg’s (@thegrok) session at SES San Francisco, I wondered how the average company would be able to leverage the complexity of big data in a way that is meaningful and profitable.

Target made headlines last year when it inadvertently announced to the father of a teenager that his daughter was pregnant, by sending her coupons targeted to her pregnancy. Target knew that this young woman was pregnant before her father did, through the collection and analysis of data related to her past purchases. Although Target would later refine their coupon targeting strategy, this is a powerful example of a company using data in order to speak to the needs of their consumer.